Friday, August 17, 2012

WE ARE BACK! With farmers' market style chic!

HELLO HELLO HI HOW ARE YOU!?!

I am sure many of you have been anxiously waking every morning, leaping to your computer and checking to see if we have rebooted Operation Sparkle and have posted about our great deals and steals. For those of you who have been doing that, I am sorry. It is for you, however, that I'm doing a very special OPERATION SPARKLE DOUBLE FEATURE!

Now that I am sort of on instagram (it is on my man's i-touch, which makes it a bit difficult to access and utilize as most instagram users can. My name is "doublepeace," which you may or may not be able to use to follow me. I'm really a novice at this new technology), it is pretty ridiculous to not share my amazing thrifting deals with the world! Plus, after a brief break from the thrifting world (two years working in a resale shop and years of giving into my thrifting obsession whenever I had the chance really started to do a number on my closet), I am ready to get back on that horse! I can't speak for Laurie, of course, but I do know that her recent move back to Milwaukee has exploded her thrifting options out of the water, so if we keep pestering her, maybe we can get her to share her recent treasures as well.

So again—deepest apologies for denying you of the magic of Operation Sparkle for so long. We have both been really busy, and had a lot of personal junk to deal with over the past year. Thankfully, thrifting will never go away, and you know that when you set something free, and it comes back to you, it is true love.

Or something.

So, for my first post of two back on the horse, I present you with a look that may be at least stylistically suitable for being on a horse (though not at all practical): Farmers' Market Style Chic!

While I have, on account of my busting closet, been looking more for housewares during my thrifting escapades instead of clothing and fashion accessories as of late, I did find a perfect outfit on a recent trip up north with my fabulous friend Mary. I say "perfect," because one of my many style icons is this chick that I once saw driving around with her man (or brother or friend) in a pick up truck in Chicago. They were both wearing various shades of brown, and looked like the coolest urban farmers you could imagine. I wanted so badly to emulate what they emulated to me within the 5 seconds that I saw them: people who worked their urban landscape and looked fabulous in sun hats and earth tones.

I am totally digging this 90's floral maxi dress. It is a bit large on me, even when I utilize the totally 90's back tie, but with a belt, I think it works. I recently rolled up to my friends' house wearing this, along with huge, vintage, blue-tinted sunglasses, and they told me that I looked like I was "from the future, coming to tell them something." Which I can totally get down with.

I also dig this dress because it reminds me of Phoebe singing about Smelly Cat, who, along with Claudia and Dawn from the Babysitters Club, was one of my few fashion icons growing up. And speaking of strangers whose fashion I want to emulate/be, I was also drawn to this dress because it reminded me of this cute girl I once saw working at the bakery by the thrift store this came from in Ashland, WI. She had braids and a dress sort of like this, and made me think that if I moved up north and worked in a bakery, I could be just as stylish as her. I also imagine that she works part time at a farm and has a really hot boyfriend.

These vintage leather shoes, purchased at the same thrift store as above dress, are one of my best finds of the year. I maintain they have magical properties, as they looked really narrow and small, but somehow fit on my feet perfectly. They are also the answer to my summer footwear debacle: sandally, but not too sandally.